Spray device



y 30, 93 F. F. ZONWILL 2,009,652

SPRAY DEVICE Filed Jan. 12, 1934 2 Sheds-Sheet 1 y 1935. F. F. CONWILL 2,009,652

SPRAY DEVICE Filed Jan. 12, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Patented July 30, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

My invention relates to improvements in a method of decorating and means for carrying out the method and it consists in the steps hereinafter set forth and in the combinations, constructions, and arrangements hereinafter described and claimed.

Plain and multi-color decorative finishes are accomplished at the present time by using a stipple brush, a sponge, a rag, etc. spatter-coat work has been done by dipping a stiff brush into the paint or cement which is to be applied to the surface, and then throwing the material against the surface by striking the brush against a stick. A similar effect is also obtained by dipping a tooth brush in paint and then drawing the brush across a wire-netting and allowing small particles of paint to fall on the object being decorated. All of these methods produce painted surfaces that are not uniform in appearance.

An object of my invention is to provide a method for spatter-coating a surface with one or more colors and makes use of a novel spatter-coating machine which will uniformly apply the paint or other material to the surface. The device permits water color paints to be used for decorating as well as oil paints. Pressure sprays are becoming more widely used, but are limited to thin paint and lacquer and it is difilcult to get a uniform stippled eifect, especially with plain colors. All of these methods apply only one color at a time, whereas with my device, one or more colors may be simultaneously applied.

Rough or texture surfaces for interiors have always been desirable, but they are invariably expensive due to the hand work required, but with this new spatter-coat machine they can be produced at a lower cost and with materials hitherto impractical for use. The device is extremely simple in construction and is durable and emcient for the purpose intended.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claim.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which Figure 1 is a vertical section through the device,

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the device,

Figure 3 is a section along the li-neS-i of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a section along the line of Figure l,

Figure 5 is a plan view of a modified form of scraper,

Figure 6 is a side elevation illustrating how a number of the devices can beconnected together,

Figure 7 is a front elevation of Figure 6,

Figure 8 is a top plan view of Figure 6,

Figure 9 is a section along the line 9-! of Figure 6, 5

Figure 10 is a section through a modified form of belt,

Figure 11 is a section through a modified form of roller, and

Figure 121s a side elevation of another modified 10 form of roller.

In carrying out my invention in its simplest form, I provide a circular brush I having fine bristles 2 made from wire or other material. The brush is rotatably mounted in a support 3 and the 15 support carries a roller 4. Although Figure 1 shows a belt 5 passed around the roller 4 and shows the support 3 as being U-shaped, the device in its simplest form will do away with the belt and the bristles 2 will contact directly with 20 the roller 4. The support 3 in its simplest form need not be U-shaped, but can be a flat base.

The device is placed in a container 6 holding a liquid such as paint, and the container can be of any desired shape. The rotation of the brush will rotate the roller 4 because the bristles frictionally engage with the roller. The revolving roller is immersed in the paint within the container 6 with the exception of its upper portion, and the roller will therefore lift a thin film of paint and will transfer this film to the tips of the bristles. The bristles are flexed as they pass over the roller and when freed are given a snapping action which will cause the drops of paint carried thereby to be thrown against the surface being decorated.

I have found that at times too much paint is delivered to the roller 4, and this will result in gobs of paint being thrown from the device at different times, which will ruin the uniformity of the decoration. In order to overcome this I have provided a scraper I that can bear directly against the roller 4 in the simplest form of the device, although Figure 1 shows the scraper bearing against the belt 5. The scraper permits only a thin film of paint to be fed to the bristles at all times, and this will cause drops of a uniform size to be thrown oil by the bristles.-

The simplest form of the device therefore comprises a brush, a roller, and a scraper, all mounted on a base and placed in a container so that only the roller will be partially submerged in the liquid.

In case a ceiling is to be decorated, I mount a second roller 8 near the left-hand wall 9 of the container, this wall constituting the bottom of the paint is fed to the bristles.

a container when the device is held in a vertical position. The belt 5 is passed over the two rollers and picks up a thin film of paint as the rollers are rotated. The bristles 2 and the scraper 1 contact with the belt 5 instead of with the roller 4.

The support or base 3 is made U-shaped in construction so as to be removably disposed in the container 6. A clip I is formed in the righthand end of the support and engages with the wall II of the container for properly positioning the support. A cord I2 connects the brush I with the roller 4 so as to afford a positive drive between the two parts.

The scraper I performs the additional function of acting as a valve for controlling the amount of paint thrown ofi by the bristles. Figure 1 shows the scraper secured to a slide I3 and the slide is manipulated by a lever I4 and is held in adjusted position by a leaf spring I5. When the scraper is in the position shown in Figure 1, a greater portion of the bristles contact with the belt and more paint is therefore thrown off by the bristles. When the scraper is moved to the right by swinging the lever toward the dotted line position, less The scraper can be moved to entirely out off any contact between the bristles and the belt.

A wiping rod I6 can also be used for limiting the quantity of paint remaining on the bristles before the latter are snapped for throwingtheir drops of paint onto the surface being decorated. A shield H (see Figure 1-) can be used in connection with the rod for directing the paint wiped off by the rod back to the container. A flexible conduit I8 can deliver additional paint to the container so that a continuous use of the device is possible. 7 a

Figure 3 shows the slide I3 provided with a slot I9 and pins 20 are passed through the slot and are secured to the side walls of the support 3. The brush I is fixed to a shaft 2I and the latter is rotated by a flexible shaft 22 or it may be rotated by a crank (not shown).

A shielding device may be removably secured to the front wall I I of the container 6 for shielding certain portions of the surface when doing different kinds of work. The shielding device includes a tray 23 for catching drippings and a front lip 24 is hinged at 25 to the tray. Side pieces 26 are also hinged at 21 to the sides of the tray 23 and a top piece 28 is hinged to one of the side pieces 26.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood. When the shielding device is not used, the operator rotates the brush I and guides the device over the surface to be decorated, the brush throwing off small drops of paint or other material onto the surface. For ceiling decorating, the wall 9 becomes the bottom of the container. The amount of paint delivered by the device can be controlled by the lever I4.

When the shielding device is used, and the operator wishes to decorate adjacent to a floor molding, the lip 24 is disposed on top of the-molding and protects the latter. Any paint drippings will flow down the lip and into the tray. The side pieces 26 can be swung toward or away from each other and in this way the width of the stream of paint passing between the pieces can be controlled. Line effects on a wall can be formed by using the side pieces, and these side pieces also permit painting to be done between adjacent door and window frames. The top piece 28 is used when decorating adjacent to a ceiling molding.

If desired, adjustable'strips 29 (see Figure 2) can be used for changing the width of the bristles and thus vary the stream of paint thrown off by the brush.

In Figure 5, I show a modified form of scraper. In this form the edge of the scraper contacting with the belt or roller is formed with teeth 30 and these teeth allow more paint to pass to the bristles than is allowed by the straight-edged scraper.

The multi-color form of the device is shown in Figures 6, 7, 8, and 9. This form is identical to that already described and makes use of a number of devices. Each device is provided with clips 3I and a bar 32 is p'assed between the clips and locks the devices together. I show a bar secured to the tops and bottoms of the devices, although any other type of fastening means may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of my invention.

Since each device of the multi-color machine is identical to the single color machine, corre- 'sponding parts will be given like reference numerals. Figure 9 illustrates how the adjacent brush shafts 2 I are provided with threaded shanks and bores 33 for connecting the shafts 2I as shown.

A different colored paint may be disposed in each container, and the quantity of paint delivered by each brush may be controlled by adjusting the lever I4. 'In this way any one of the colors may be made to predominate. The drops leaving the various brushes pass each other on their way to the surface to be decorated and this assures a uniform spreading of the various-colored drops on the surface. If desired, the drops before drying on the wall can be mixed by moving a brush thereover. The brush may be moved in certain definite lines for providing brick effects, etc.

Figure 10 shows a belt 34 provided with indentations 35 for picking up morematerial than can be done by a plain belt. Where paint has cement mixed therewith, a belt of the form shown in Figure 10 is best adapted. If a roller alone were used, it would take the form shown in Figure 11. The roller 36 in this figure has indentations 31 for picking up a cementitious material. In Figure l2, bristles 38 are mounted on a roller 39 and the bristles pick up the heavy material such as the kind having a fine gravel therein used for stucco work. Another way of controlling the paint carried by the belt is shown in Figure 1, where a small roller 40 rides on the belt and permits only a certain quantity of paint to pass thereby. This roller may be corrugated if desired to allow a greater amount of paint to pass.

While I have shown only the preferred forms of my invention, it is to be understood that various changes can be made within the scope of the ap pended claim.

What is claimed is,

A spatter coating device comprising a moving surface, means for continuously delivering a film of liquid to the surface, a scraper on the surface for limiting the depth of the liquid on the surface, a rotatable circular bristle brush having its bristles flexed when contacting with the surface, said bristles immediately snapping the fluid therefrom when freed from the surface, and means for adjusting the scraper with respect to the portion of the surface contacted by the bristles for varying the amount of liquid picked up by the bristles.

FRED F. CONWILL. 

